One of my favorite things about working at the Pulitzer is that there is often an element of the unexpected in our projects. Our current exhibition, Ideal (Dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer, provided just such an element in the form of Staging Old Masters. The program for Staging Old Masters called for small groups of actors to perform short theatrical pieces in front of the Old Master paintings that inspired them. 

This is not a typical activity in special exhibition galleries, and we had numerous discussions among the staff to establish parameters for the performances. Our primary aim was to ensure the safety of the paintings while providing enough space for the actors to perform effectively and the audience to view the performances easily. There was the additional twist of its being a mobile theatrical experience: the actors and the audience would be moving through the galleries to different paintings/performance sites during the program.

We determined early on that the actors could not use props, which would be too risky in the galleries. The Ando building itself gave us the solution for keeping actors and audience a safe distance from the paintings. The air-supply floor grates in the galleries are five feet away from the walls where the paintings hang. They became the boundary within which all the action, performing and viewing, would take place.

It was very helpful for the audience and for the success of our plan that before each performance Staging Old Masters Director Agnes Wilcox or Pulitzer Manager of Community Engagement Lisa Harper-Chang welcomed the audience, called attention to the need to remain a safe distance from the paintings, and pointed out the floor-grate boundary. Pulitzer gallery assistants and security guards as well as the actors themselves also helped guide the audience members. 

We learned as we went: before opening night we had established a maximum audience size of thirty people; at the very first performance we realized that we could safely accommodate five more people in the audience. 

Staging Old Masters was a successful experience on many levels, including providing a template for future exhibition-related programming in the Pulitzer galleries.

Floor grates were used to establish boundaries between people and artworks for Staging Old Masters.